August 8, 2010

Staring off in wise-guy mode: the one word that describes what to do in Paris in the springtime can’t be printed here. And that applies both to the city in France and the playgirl in Hollywood. And now that I think of it, the same situation would be a great pleasure in one of the penthouse suites in the Paris of Las Vegas. That luxurious resort hotel in Sin City features copies of all the great city’s landmarks without all the fuss of flying across the ocean.

We’ve visited Paris in France several times, mostly in late June, when springtime was just waning into summer. We had a favorite little hotel just across a narrow street from Le Sorbonne, and from our room could look into classroom windows and hallways as the students came and went. There was a square on the other side of the hotel where students and others gathered day and night to gab, drink, eat and otherwise act like French students. That part of our visits was always the most enjoyable.

We also hit all the tourist sites, of course, whenever we’ve been there, including the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, other historic buildings and museums, and the great restaurants. We’re not smokers, and that bothered us somewhat both when eating inside and al fresco at Paris cafes, because it seems every Frenchman, Frenchwoman and their cats and dogs smoke constantly without ever taking a breath.

We understand there are now some rules in place where non-smokers can breathe while enjoying their wine and escargot. We hope that is so when we visit the City of Light again. As for the people, they are still short-tempered and arrogant to American tourists, but that’s on par with New Yorkers, Londoners, Muscovites and Bostonians. Big city rudeness isn’t just a Paris phenomenon.

For special tours to experience springtime flowers, the many gardens and former royal estates in and near Paris are available and relatively inexpensive. As the great Frank Sinatra once sang,

‘Til April in Paris, chestnuts in blossom,

Holiday tables under the trees.

April in Paris, this is a feeling

That no one can ever reprise…

You’re wrong, Frank. We expect to reprise our Paris visits, if not this April, in some lovely springtime in the very near future.